The present invention relates to an image forming device which performs image forming operation on the basis of data for printing, an image forming method which is executed by an image forming device, a printer driver program which his installed upon an information processing device which is connected to an image forming device, and an image forming system in which an information device and an information processing system are connected together.
With an image forming device which performs image forming operation by a method of electronic photography, it is necessary to raise the temperature of a fixing device during image forming operation to a set temperature which is greater than or equal to the melting temperature of the toner which is employed. However, if this set temperature is maintained even while waiting for image forming operation, then useless consumption of electrical power takes place.
Thus it has been arranged for it to be possible, while waiting for image forming operation, to execute a power save mode (a power economy mode), in which the amount of electrical power consumption is less than during the operating mode in which image forming operation is possible. For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2001-209514, there is disclosed a printing system with which it is arranged, while the image forming device is executing the power save mode, not to output any cancellation request which commands cancellation of the power save mode from an external device to the image forming device. This structure makes it possible, with an image forming device to which a plurality of external devices are connected, to prevent decrease of the advantageous effect of power saving occurring due to frequent cancellation of the power save mode.
However, if a plurality of external devices are connected to the image forming device, then a complicated operation is required for commanding all of the external devices to limit transmission of cancellation requests, in order to ensure that the power save mode of the image forming device is not cancelled. Moreover, it is necessary to transmit the data for printing from the external devices when the image forming device is not executing the power save mode, and there is a possibility that it may become necessary to transmit the same data for printing from an external device several times. Due to this, the processing by the external devices becomes complicated.
Thus it is contemplated, along with the data from printing, to output from the external devices commands which command whether or not the power save mode is to be maintained, and to store data for printing which is accompanied by a command which commands for the power save mode to be maintained internally to the image forming device. When a command is inputted to the image forming device which commands the power save mode to be cancelled, then the power save mode is cancelled, and image forming operation is performed for the data for printing which has been inputted and also for the data for printing which has been stored. However, in a system in which a plurality of external devices are connected to an image forming device, since data for printing which appertains to a plurality of users is outputted to the single image forming device, accordingly there is a possibility that data for printing which appertains to some user other than the user who has commanded cancellation of the power save mode may be stored within the image forming device. When a command is inputted which commands cancellation of the power save mode and image forming operation for all of the data for printing which the image forming device is storing comes to be performed, then printed documents which appertain to a plurality of users are discharged in succession. As a result, not only is there the problem that it necessary to perform the task of separating printed documents which appertain to the plurality of users and of distributing these documents to those users, but also there is the problem that it becomes impossible to ensure the secrecy of documents which are printed, since the user who has issued a command to cancel the power save mode is able to get hold of printed documents which appertain to other users.
The object of this invention is to provide an image forming device, an image forming method, a printer driver program, and an image forming system, which can prevent the successive discharge of printed documents which appertain to a plurality of users, by only performing image forming operation on the basis of the data for printing which appertains to that user who has commanded cancellation of the power save mode.